Russia plans to position two full-sized armies in Belarus for large-scale military interoperability exercises following the signing of the Belarusian-Russian integrated air defence system, according to a report on defencetalk.com.

The exercises, which will be held in September, will involve more than 60,000 soldiers and include two large-scale drills. They will involve units from three military districts, the report said.

The exercises are a part of ongoing military reforms to restructure the military command and control system from a four-tier (military district – army – division – regiment) to a three-tier structure (military district – operational command – brigade).